"There are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehended; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless." Machiavelli

"A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, and it is of such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes, but it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank." Niccolo Machiavelli

"Don't judge me by the promises I've made, judge me by the promises I've kept." Obama, who was probably quoting someone else, but I like it either way.

Image: The keyhole. People build walls to keep you out; never force your way in- you will find only more walls within walls. There are doors in these walls, doors to the heart and mind, and they have tiny keyholes. Peer through the keyhole, find the key that opens the door, and you have access to their will with no ugly signs of forced entry.

The north wind and the sun were disputing which was the stronger, and agreed to acknowledge as the victor whichever of them could strip a traveler of his clothing. The wind tried first. But its violent gusts only made the man hold his clothes tightly around him, and when it blew harder still the cold made him so uncomfortable that he put on an extra wrap. Eventually the wind got tired of it and handed him over to the sun. The sun shone first with a moderate warmth, which made the man take off his topcoat. Then it blazed fiercely, till, unable to stand the heat, he stripped and went off to bathe in a nearby river. Persuasion is more effective than force. Fables, Aesop, Sixth century B.C.

"Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into WANTING to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you" Robert Greene

"Yeah she knows her pops, but I'm the one she calls Daddy"

My girl isn't perfect, but she is perfect for me. We have fights, pretty big ones, but we listen, we learn, and we do what we have to do to be happy. Not just selfishly for ourselves, but selfishly as a whole. We are one entity by now. She is working as hard as I've ever seen her work at growing as a person and as a mate. Listening and learning. Questioning me when I need questioning, and not questioning when I don't. Some people tell me when someone is your slave they should do what you say without question, but I don't believe that. I know I make mistakes, and there are few people I trust to point them out to me. I rely on her for that, and I wouldn't change that for anything. She has proven and will continue to prove that when I ask her for advice she will do the best she can to give the good advice while at the same time trying to identify any bias she may have and warn me of it while answering my question. There aren't a lot of people that I've met with the ability to look into themselves like that. It is something that I try to do myself. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't. My girl and I have been through a lot, and will continue on this very rewarding, sometimes painful path. Because we know that we, her and I, are so very worth it. Sometimes I get caught up and only write here when I need to vent negatively, that's why I took the time to write this. It isn't good to always focus on the negative, for almost all of what her and I have is beautiful. Looking forward to a beautiful weekend.

I'm sure you still read this, and it felt to me today that you were prodding me about kell. I know you know the answer to what you were prodding about, but if you want to talk about it I will, just let me know.

"It is small but painful and irritating. You try all sorts of medicaments, you complain, you scratch and pick at the scab. Doctors only make it worse, transforming the tiny wound into a grave matter. If only you had left the wound alone, letting time heal it and freeing yourself of worry" Robert Greene